Flashpoint: Frankenstein and the Creatures of the Unknown #3Review

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Introducing the agents of S.H.A.D.E.!

By Joey Esposito

Just as he does month in and month out with Sweet Tooth, Jeff Lemire has shown a knack for lending real life troubles and relatable personalities to characters that are otherworldly. However, this concluding issue scales back on those moments, save for a few at the end, and zones in on action and mild exposition to tie things into the larger Flashpoint plot at hand. Though overall there was less emotional resonance to the story than I had expected after the first two issues, ultimately this installment did one thing incredibly well: it got me more excited for the coming Frankenstein ongoing in September. That said, one fault worth pointing out is the dangling thread of the monster hunter employed by General Lane that issue #2 spent so much time introducing. She essentially gets told off by Bride of Frankenstein, gets recruited by the team, falls into the background of the scenes, and never says another word.

While the story has its ups and downs, one major benefit of this chapter is a consistent art job done adequately by penciller Andy Smith. For the most part, the book is standard fare in terms of page construction and composition, but Smith has the unenviable task of getting bizarre monsters to emit human emotion. The good thing is that he does a commendable job of it. Between Frankenstein's gritty persona, his Bride's sass and Nina's lovelorn stares, Smith's rendering of the characters almost makes up for the script's lack of focus in that area.